Book Review: She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, by Zeenat Mahal

I’m not that fond of love stories these days, but there are few authors who write them well. And it’s good to read, enjoyable in fact. One of the few is Zeenat Mahal, and I quite enjoyed reading her book, “Haveli” last February. The good word on her writing style continued (continues) to grow. So I had no hesitation in accepting a copy of her new novel for review.

“She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” revolves around Zee (Zoella) and Fardeen, who is Zee’s best friend Swaba’s brother. Zee has a huge crush on Fardeen since childhood, which persists even when Fardeen gets engaged to Neha. Then fate (or is it destiny) plays a hand and brings Zee and Fardeen together by marriage. Well, a very changed Fardeen actually. Can the change be overlooked and help the happy couple find their happily ever after? Well, that’s the story, and I can just say it’ll be a worth read.

The story feels realistic. That helps it in oodles actually. It made me feel right at home in the setting, and sometimes nod in approval. It flows smoothly from one chapter into another and with a nice even pace that helped to finish the book in one go. The characters are family oriented and the characters of the family felt true. The attention that Zee’s family pays to society, her harsh spoken sister-in-law Farwa etc. are well thought of and well written too, as are the small details like the jealousy, small fights, the talk between best friends and such. There are no major twists and turns, though I expected that beforehand. One other thing I liked about the book was the cover design, featuring just a rose than characters.

I thought the transition between Fardeen’s engagement to Neha and the next chapter that turns the book on its head was a bit too fast. It doesn’t feel so prominent because the story is of course about Fardeen and Zoella, but I can’t help but feel the book might have been helped by a small chapter between that. It’s not exactly a negative for the book, but just a thought.

A simple story done justice by an author who writes well, “She loves me, He loves me not” is one to take along for a nice journey. It is interesting and engaging. For the kindle enthusiast, I suppose, though I hope a paperback version comes soon too. When stories that are half as good are doing the rounds in print version, I think it’ll be good that this finds a light in print.

The Bookworm Rates This: 4/5

Book Details

Title: He Loves Me, She Loves Me Not

Author(s): Zeenat Mahal

Genre: Romance

ISBN/ASIN: B00S1HKGIK

Publisher: Indireads

No. of Pages: 260

Price: Rs. 150

Reviewed for Indireads, who gave me a soft-copy of the book. The views expressed here are my own, frank and uninfluenced.

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Welcome, dear Bookworm!

Hi there! I'm Vinay Leo R. I'm a bookworm, and as the tagline says, I'm trying to read the world one book at a time!

Many a time I have been so engrossed in a book that I’ve forgotten the world around me. It’s like alchemy for my thoughts, each book transforming a part of me unknowingly, to gold or silver or whatever comparison the world would like to give to pricelessness. I find it a welcome escape to dive into the book, into its words and into its worlds, away from reality for a while. That is, to me, as therapeutic as writing.

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As of January 2016, the rating system at A Bookworm's Musing allots a score out of 10. For star ratings, the score is halved. If I feel the book has potential, a half-rating like 2.5 or 3.5 etc is rounded to the higher side like 3 or 4 stars. else it is kept to the lower side, like 2 or 3 stars.